Abstract
Let us assume that we want to determine the structure of some object which is invisible. It has the supernatural property that it is non responsive to any electromagnetic radiation such as light. But, to make the example more concrete, let’s assume it is an invisible, cream colored, 1984 Alpha Romeo Spider (curiously, exactly like the author’s). If we have never seen such a glorious object before, how can we learn of its structure? How can we visualize it?
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Taylor CA, Lipson H (1964) Optical transforms: their preparation and application to X-ray diffraction problems. Cornell University Press, Ithaca
McPherson A (1999) The crystallization of biological macromolecules. Cold Spring Harbor Press, Cold Spring Harbor
Blow DM, Crick FHC (1959) The treatment of errors in the isomorphous replacement method. Acta Cryst 12:794
Boyes-Watson J, Davidson E, Perutz MF (1947) An X-ray study of horse methemoglobin. Proc Roy Soc (Lond) Ser A 191:83
Bragg WL, Pertuz MF (1954) The structure of hemoglobin. VI. Fourier projections on the 010 plane. Proc Roy Soc A225:315
Harker D (1956) The determination of the phases of the structure factors of noncentro-symmetric crystals by the method of double isomorphous replacement. Acta Cryst 9:1
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this paper
Cite this paper
McPherson, A. (2012). An Introduction to Macromolecular Crystallography Through Parable and Analogy. In: Puglisi, J., Margaris, M. (eds) Biophysics and Structure to Counter Threats and Challenges. NATO Science for Peace and Security Series B: Physics and Biophysics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4923-8_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4923-8_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4922-1
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4923-8
eBook Packages: Physics and AstronomyPhysics and Astronomy (R0)